Home & Then Home Again
Waking up in a different bed, sipping coffee with a different view, letting go of daily norms to move about inside something new. I don't mind these things when they are just for a minute, so to speak. Traveling always inspires me as I experience new things and see different landscapes. I can feel myself sort of waking up a bit and my mind filling with new ideas. But let’s be real. Dorothy knows what’s up - there’s no place like home.
We recently got to exchange the rainy and cold of home, for warmth on our skin and Florida sun in our eyes! Work sent us there - hundreds of people gathered together to learn about Whisper Mountain and give toward the continuing work! Hugging all the people, catching up as best you can with hundreds of people in a few minutes each was really good. We have experienced the goodness of God and witnessed His incredible faithfulness through these folks and the many, many more throughout the 19 years we’ve been doing camp ministry. Quite mind blowing really.
While we were there, and as we could, we popped down to the beach for a sunset stroll one evening. We jumped and swam in the pool here and there. We took a piece of a day to enjoy strolling the still-being-renovated beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel (after Hurricane Ian forever changed their landscapes). Bummer it was Red Tide (hence the dead fish all along the shore!) but we still very much enjoyed these little pleasures.
Returning to a place I called home for most of my childhood always stirs up the memories. Though progress and weather have definitely changed pretty much everything, there’s enough there to still remember all the people and experiences that helped shape who I am. I’m grateful each time we get the chance to go so I remember where I came from, but I’m more grateful to get to return to what has been home for almost twenty years now.
There’s something special about these mountains! I wouldn’t want to trade it for anything! The beauty, the work giving our days purpose, and all the people we still get to walk life with (even if they don’t all share these mountains with us). We have the massive privilege of inviting people to escape their noise so they can encounter God’s whisper. We get to provide a place for people to refresh and rejuvenate and refocus. We get to serve people and provide an atmosphere of God’s love and grace and peace. We get to have an up close and personal glimpse into what God is beautifully doing in people, in their stories and journeys. I’m just so grateful He brought us here.
At the end of the day, it’s the people that matter the most in every aspect of our lives. Life is made rich by the people we share it with. As an introvert, peopling can be so hard, but I would never want to do without them.
May we remain open to one another and as faithful to those God puts in our lives as our God is faithful to us. For His glory!
And amen!
